Carlo & Rosebud

When I lived in New York, a camera was my constant companion and no corner of my life and times went undocumented. My flickr stream, which I began when the site was still in beta, was once a full-fledged obsession and now stands as a rarely-visited vestige of that time in my life that yielded tens of thousands of images, some of which are used as stock imagery in multi-media projects that I do to this day.

I take it as a sign of sea change around my life in Detroit that I no longer feel the need to put myself lens-distance from the things happening around me. Mostly, I am genuinely happy just to be a part of them and loathe to disrupt a scene by aiming a camera at sometimes camera-shy Midwesterners (New Yorkers have collectively cultivated a practice of reflexive posting that allows them to more easily ignore photographers). Or maybe I’m just busy, and the majority of my photo-taking impulses are absorbed in the photo-logging that is a companion to my arts writing. Or maybe, as I have noticed with poetry, I cycle through modes of expression, sometimes going years without practicing one kind of art or another, only to find myself taking it up again suddenly. I have learned not to force it, and not to panic when it suddenly goes away.

Whatever the reason, I just don’t take photos much anymore, especially portraits. But I could not pass up an opportunity with this incredibly stylish couple, who I have admired around town a few times. We happened to be sitting near each other at the Youngworld opening this weekend, and though I didn’t ask to take the shot immediately, Idid ask eventually, and they were super nice about it. I believe their names are Carlo and Rosebud, but I could be wrong. They are about the best, and I’m glad I got the shot.